They Bleed Pixels is one of those action platformers designed to be pure hell, in a similar vein to the likes of Super Meat Boy. Initially it was this potential similarity that put me off the game, because honestly I'm not a big fan of SMB due to the way it handles. But you know how it is with Steam sales and prices crashing through the floor. I eventually thought "you know, maybe I should try it for a price like this", which brings us up to the present moment.

At the very least I do love the general theme of the game, which draws heavily from horror themes, including a variety of classic references throughout. While things never actually get scary, the gothic themes are used effectively to craft an interesting set of dream worlds for the player to go through. Of particular note are the backgrounds, providing us with visions of hellfire, water and pipes to name a few. It helps make each level look new and exciting. It's much needed variation as the foreground objects are mostly black and grey, creating a stark contrast with the colourful backgrounds.

The characters are probably the most noticeable element of the pixel style graphics. It's not really a style I typically fall in love with, but if 8 bit retro is your thing then this game does seem to do that pretty well. The girl shows off some clear details that tie her to the one you see in the cutscenes, and while the enemies gravitate towards the blacks and whites colouring style they provide a nice assortment of hostile creatures to populate each level with.

There's a nice soundtrack that accompanies the game, providing each level with its own distinct theme. In keeping with the style of the presentation this gives off the vibe of 8 bit retro, which is nice even if it does mean the music can become a little repetitive when you've been stuck suffering lots of deaths on a given level. I also can't go on without mentioning that scream that kicks in whenever you meet a grisly end. It's a sound you'll come to hear a lot and it serves as a nice reminder that you're about to be kicked back to the nearest checkpoint.

In terms of the story I feel a bit mixed. While there is a story behind the game's events, very little is really explained outside of the details players will pick up from watching the cutscenes, which you only really see at the beginning of each set of levels and, of course, the end sequence. It's enough to feel more than a "save the princess" excuse plot as the unnamed girl you control becomes closer and closer to the demonic version of herself she sees in her dreams, but with barebones storytelling it doesn't really manage to draw the player in quite as effectively.

So let's move onto the gameplay. At its core each level focuses on getting from A to B, so just like old school platformers then, along with adding a few optional elements into the mix.

Just another afternoon burying a cursed book.

Platforming is a big part of the experience and you'll be tasked with jumping your way past a variety of obstacles. Fortunately, the girl handles quite well in the air lending a good degree of control. In addition to simply leaping players also have access to a midair jump and the ability to cling to and jump from walls, which end up forming key parts of the platforming element. For example, various places have platforms with spikes along the top, forcing players to cling to the sides to traverse across chasms. I think that this is one of the things that helps set the game apart and it works really well.

Slippery floors are somewhat different to the usual floors, causing you to slide around and preventing or hindering your usual abilities. It's supposed to make things more difficult and that's true, but not in a good way. Rather, these end up being very frustrating as the girl ends up bouncing off anything she touches at quite some speed. Fighting enemies and navigating close traps is an irritating experience in these instances. Although the more open areas with them feel better, I still think the game would work better without them.

You also have to deal with hazards along the way, which come in the form of environmental hazards and enemies. Spikes, blades and circular saws are dotted around each level, often providing part of the challenge of getting through each section. While nothing about them feels particular unique, they serve as interesting obstacles to up the challenge.

The game uses a single button for combat, using the player's position in relation to the enemy and the directional input to register each type of attack. Despite it only using one button, there's a surprising amount of variety as you get to stab, slash, kick and juggle enemies around to your heart's content. The only tricky thing is how easy it is to accidentally use the wrong move. Often this isn't much of an issue, as you may accidentally kick an enemy away instead of stabbing them, but the stab dash ability can potentially launch you into a quick death if you're not careful. It didn't prove to be a big problem when I played though but it's enough to be worth noting.

One nice touch to the combat was the ability to use the environmental hazards to your advantage too. The options are limited since there are only a few different types of dangerous objects available, but it's still fun to kick a guarding shambler into a circular saw and watch the pixel blood rain down or watch an enemy get cut to pieces by a descending blade. There's some variety to the enemies you fight as well, from the initial shamblers that walk and attack slowly to more explosive targets and hostiles that jump and fly after you. Each of these is slowly introduced as you progress so you get to become used to each one and how they operate.

The glorious pixel bloodfall in action.

When it comes to the challenge, this game offers a little breathing room by giving you a health meter consisting of three hearts. As you can expect, lose all three hearts and you're a goner and back to the closest checkpoint. This is another area the game shows its uniqueness, as players get to set their own checkpoints rather than having to rely on preset ones. The ability to set checkpoints relies on the blood you earn from defeating enemies and collecting blood dotted around each level. To encourage more daring feats you fill the meter faster through stylish killing of enemies and for reaching blood that's out of the way. It's an interesting system that rewards good playing. Later on though this system ends up a lot more restricted. You're unable to place checkpoints on slippery platforms or if there is an enemy or a certain type of hazard, such as a circular saw, nearby. Of course, later levels are absolutely filled with all of these, meaning the spacing between checkpoints can become fairly large as there are times you are unable to set one despite having a full meter.

The difficulty itself starts off rather good. You have an easy breather level... well, easy by the standards of these kinds of games at least. Helpful signs and few hazards help players get used to the controls and kinds of challenges to expect. Then things start ramping up as you find yourself dealing with more and more stuff, to the point where trying to get through each section you can expect plenty of this. At this point the repeated deaths feel worthwhile as you figure out how to approach the challenge again. Things continue to go well up to the last 4 levels. I feel that here is where the difficulty has a tendency to overstep the line from genuine difficulty to cheap tactics. We're talking about enemies placed on small platforms, hazards placed extremely close to difficult platforming sections and those nasty slippery floors with lots of instant death traps scattered around them. The margin for error is virtually non-existent here. This is also where the seemingly generous health meter largely becomes irrelevant as getting hit in these scenarios is likely to end in death regardless. Suffering numerous deaths in the earlier levels always felt like it was my own fault and I could see a way to do better. In these levels it was more often the case of brute forcing my way through, which didn't really feel as much fun.

There are eleven levels in the game to play through during the story, each boasting a reasonable size. As well as the main goal of reaching the exit, you also have the option of finding book pages and aiming for high scores in each stage. This can also lead to earning achievement style badges which in turn can result in unlocking bonus content such as artwork. It's an excellent option for those wanting more than a simple reach the end challenge. In addition to the story levels, there are also three bonus levels available. Two are very similar to the main ones, only with a different set of graphics and a difficulty that just about on the right side of challenging. The Halloween level deserves a special mention though simply due to the interesting approach it takes. The collectable items here are candy and you earn them by forcing enemies in clearly labelled traps. It was a lot of fun playing through it as it felt quite different.

So there you have it. The game presents some interesting ideas and for most of the game has the kind of intense difficulty to challenge without frustrating the player. Unfortunately, this is let down by the end game segments that go against the ideals initially set up, but looking past that and in appreciation of the low price it might be worth checking out if you're into brutal 2D platforming.